Page 88 of Stable Hand

“Ah fuck,” Luke groaned.

“Did he say how long you have to wear the cage?” Adam asked.

Luke laid his head on the table and closed his eyes. “No.”

Adam grinned. “Good. I’ll have to give him a raise.”

Luke lifted his hand and gave Adam the finger, without lifting his head.

But Adam laughed. “Have a great evening, boys. By the way, I had the cleaning crew give the old shed on the back property a little bit of a spruce up, in case you’re ever on the lookout for a bit of privacy. There’s a clean mattress in there now.”

Now Luke did look up, eyebrows lifted in surprise.

Adam continued, “I haven’t told anyone else. Can you keep it a secret?” He looked doubtful. “I’m giving you the opportunity to surprise me. And now there is absolutely no reason for you to break into my room.”

Luke tilted his head. “Well, except for the amazing bath—”

Adam held up his hand. “If you ever put your bare ass in my bathtub again, Luke, I will tell Kamal to pull out all the stops. I’m not fucking kidding.”

Luke shook his head. “Seriously, thanks for the shed thing. You’ve made my evening a much more enjoyable prospect.”

“No problem. And keep your fucking mouth shut. Or you guys will have to draw up a schedule because everyone in the damn bunkhouse will want to use the shed.”

“Understood.”

“Noah?” Adam said.

“Yeah?” Noah asked, having trouble drawing his eyes away from Luke at the moment.

“Congratulations again. You were the pride of the BCR today. Good work.”

Noah’s smile at Adam’s praise was worth every single thing I had gone through so far.

“Thank you.”

With that, Adam left them.

Luke stood, pointing at the food left on our plates. “Okay, boys. Finish eating because we’re going on a little adventure walk tonight.”

*

The shed Adam had referred to was a dilapidated structure on the edge of the farthest pasture. Far from the bunkhouse and past the location of the annual bonfire, the small building sat on the edge of the woods at the end of a faint trail in the grass.

We took turns showering and then surreptitiously left the bunkhouse after dark, claiming to be stargazing or some fucking shit. I figured the other guys knew we were off to fuck in the woods but didn’t realize we had an actual, more comfortable, destination. We used Luke’s flashlight to find our way.

Adam had not lied.

Although the shed appeared sketchy from the outside, the inside looked quite comfortable with clean wood floors, a small table and, yes, a mattress bigger than expected, covered with clean sheets and blankets. Against the opposite wall was a worn love seat with flat and faded cushions.

There were no windows, which suited our purposes well. There were two oil lanterns on hooks by the bed and a book of matches on the table. Once they were lit, the little cabin felt cozy and comfortable.

“I can’t believe Adam did this for us,” Luke said. “You should have seen the place a few weeks ago. I won’t lie. I’ve fucked guys here before. But it was pretty gross, and I’d honestly given this place up in favor of blocking the shower door for ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” I said, eyebrow raised, trying not to think about who Luke might have fucked here.

“Well, I took my time with you, cowboy. Because who wouldn’t?” He looked me up and down.

“Sweet talker,” I said, blushing.